Understanding Your Students: A Glimpse into the Media Habits of Tweens and Teens

November 10, 2015

Common Sense Media

By Educator Innovator

Common Sense’s new study quantifies screen use, identifies unique types of users, and uncovers patterns that could spark improvements in content, access, and learning.

“For today’s tweens and teens, technology is part of the fabric of everyday life. They’re watching TV on lots of devices and using smartphones and tablets to maximum advantage—texting, researching, sharing, connecting—sometimes using multiple devices at once. Educators need to understand how technology fits in children’s lives to know how it can be used to support learning. But we can’t begin to make sense of what these technological changes mean for kids until we understand what’s being used and for how long and how kids feel about technology and media.

That’s why we’re pleased to release a new report, the Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Tweens, which paints a more complete picture of how tweens and teens are using media. Some findings may not be surprising: Kids like to multitask while doing homework. Other findings point to continued challenges around digital equity: Lower-income teens have less access to home computers and are less likely to use them for homework.”